TRIUMPH and Tragedy

St. Raphael project succumbs to fire

St. Raphael Cathedral Spire Replacement

By Chris Thompson

Photo courtesy of J.H. Findorff & Son Inc.

Tragedy has at least temporarily overshadowed the triumph of the St. Raphael Cathedral spire replacement in Madison.

In December, a construction team led by J.H. Findorff & Son put the final touches on the spire replacement at the historic cathedral at 222 W. Main St. It was a tricky job.

The Findorff crew and engineers from Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer & Associates Inc. had to first figure out how to remove the 120-year-old, 90-foot spire and then safely replace it with a new 115-foot, 60,000-pound steeple with 104 fiber-optic lights.

"It was pretty amazing," said Sheri McQuality, Findorff's project manager. "Despite all the challenges, what was really great was watching the people in the cars driving by and the people walking by looking up with expressions of, 'Wow.'"

Those expressions turned to shock on the morning of March 14 when a fire ripped through the cathedral, leaving only a couple of walls and the steeple standing. In the weeks following the fire, Findorff crews and structural engineers from GAS returned to the site to assess the structural integrity of the spire and what was left of the cathedral.

"Everything collapsed downward," said Bill Brophy, director of communications for the Diocese of Madison. "All that remains is a U-shaped structure. The roof collapsed. We're all hopeful that the steeple will stay up."

Four days after the fire, Madison police charged William Connell, 41, of Lodi with burglary, bail jumping and arson in connection with the St. Raphael's fire.

Findorff's involvement with the project began in March 2004 when the Diocese of Madison chose the Madison contractor for the first stage of what was going to be a multiphase cathedral restoration project. Findorff, in turn, chose Heather & Little Ltd., Ontario, Canada, to
fashion the new steeple and hand-press 2,000 square feet of copper shingles for the structure.

With a design in place, the project team turned its attention to figuring out how best to remove the old steeple and put up the new one.

	Project Name: St. Raphael Cathedral Spire Replacement Location: Madison Submitting Company: J.H. Findorff & Son Inc., Madison General Contractor: J.H. Findorff & Son Inc. Architect: Facility Engineering Inc., Madison Engineer: Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer & Associates Inc., Madison Owner: Diocese of Madison Project Cost: $1.1 million Start Date: October 2004 Completion Date: December 2004

"In early October, we started taking the old one down," McQuality said. "It was quite a challenge. There were big safety issues. We had to dig in and figure out how it was connected. We took it down in two or three large pieces."

When the new steeple arrived, carried by seven, 45-foot semis, Findorff was waiting with a concrete pad containing anchor points for the assembly and staging of the spire. The project team had opted to put the new structure in place with two crane picks.

The team did the first pick on the Friday after Thanksgiving and the second the following week. In each instance, Findorff used two cranes, one for the pick and the other for ironworkers securing the structure with tie-down rods.

"Part of the challenge was making sure the layout of the anchor bolts matched up with the spire," McQuality said. "The last thing you want is to be hoisting something like this and having it not fit. It did. There were no embarrassing things there."

When Findorff finished its work in December, the contractor didn't expect to be back.

"I think everybody involved was really excited that this was an important part in St. Raphael's history," McQuality said. "We certainly didn't think we'd be making any changes to it for another 150 years or so."